Operation Buffalo (1967)

Operation Buffalo was a US Marine Corps military operation which occurred from 2 to 14 July 1967 during the Vietnam War.

On the morning of 2 July 1967, the 1st Battalion of the US Marine Corps launched a sweep of the area northeast of Con Thien. When they reached a crossroads called "the Marketplace" a mile and a quarter from their base, they were ambushed by the NVA, and one company was virtually annihilated. Another company was ambushed while attempting to rescue the first company, and the Marines suffered one of their costliest days during the war 53 Marines were killed and 190 wounded. 34 more dead were left on the battlefield, and, when the Marines fought their way back two days later to retrieve their bodies, they found that many of them had been executed, had been booby-trapped or mutilated, or had been killed due to their M16s jamming during combat. The operation ended on 14 July 1967, and the US military exaggerated NVA losses to turn a defeat into a victory.